Great moments in film music: ‘La La Land’

Just a small sample from the spectacular new American musical, “La La Land.” By the way, the film was shot in CinemaScope using the same lenses — the exact same lenses — they used to shoot “Ben-Hur” in the late ’50s.

Music by Justin Hurwitz.

Correction: My cinematographer brother-in-law informs me that the “Ben-Hur” lenses were used on “Rogue One” not “La La Land.” My error. “La La Land was shot with regular Panavision 2X anamorphic lenses, the same format as CinemaScope originally, a 2X horizontally squeezed image onto the 4-perf 35mm film frame,” my brother-in-law says. He would know.

In what might be described as a case of life imitating art, the city of Hermosa Beach wants to replicate the look of the city pier as it appeared in the hit movie “La La Land.”

Specifically, Councilman Jeff Duclos was so impressed by the lamp posts added to the pier for a scene in the musical that he has asked staff for a report on installing such fixtures permanently.

In the Oscar-favorite musical, actor Ryan Gosling performs a song-and-dance number under the bright lights of the vintage-looking lamp posts provided by the studio.

“It’s an inspiring movie, it’s a very positive movie,” Duclos told the City Council at last week’s meeting. “It presents Hermosa Beach in just the best possible light.”

Improvements are needed at the pier, including lighting, and the city has funds budgeted for those capital projects. Duclos believes new pier lighting has “elevated itself to a priority” with the release of “La La Land.”

Duclos said the idea didn’t start with him, but rather people in the community, including Dency Nelson, a Directors Guild of America member who called the film a “love note” to Los Angeles as well as Hermosa Beach.

“There are a lot of us in the community who would like to see those art production lamp posts that were there just for the film permanently installed, perhaps in place of what we have,” Nelson said at the council meeting.